Hooray!

{helping our good friends move onto our street...yay!}

{playing at the park}

{random playing outside pictures}

I've been meaning to get to these pictures all week, but we've been too busy enjoying the sunshine! I'm so glad spring is here (even the rain doesn't bother me, as long as it doesn't turn into snow!).

p.s. click on photos to enlarge! :)

The luckiest

{engagement picture}

{the big day}

{just before our reception in France}

Today I really feel like the luckiest girl. Looking back over the past 8 years truly amazes me and I'm so grateful that I've been so blessed with such a great best friend and husband. He inspires me everyday! I love you, Roland. Happy Anniversary!

Brave

Every so often I feel courageous. This morning was one of those times. It wasn't that bad, really. I should be brave more often. :)

April 14th

{I love this shot of him on a neighbor's "bike"}

Today marks 9 years since the passing of my father. And, although it's a sad day, I feel so blessed and grateful to have had such a great Dad. I can see the Hand of the Lord both in his untimely passing and in my life since that day. I know he is where he needs to be.

I've been going through files lately and doing some Spring cleaning. I came across this letter that he wrote to me when I was 2 years old. It captures the kind of Dad he was perfectly. :)

I love you too Dad!

Beautiful Day

We love this time of year when flowers are starting to bloom and trees are blossoming. We love the Easter Holiday and the opportunity it provides to think about the Savior and His love for each of us.

p.s. click on photos to enlarge

Nous adorons cette période de l'année quand les fleurs commencent à fleurir et les arbres sont en fleurs. Nous aimons sa saison de Pâques et la possibilité que la saison offre de pouvoir réfléchir sur le Sauveur et son amour pour chacun de nous.

p.s. Cliquez sur les photos pour agrandir

True meaning of Easter

Eric's big news...

*WARNING* This may end up being a long post. I will not be offended if you don't make it to the end!

About 2 months ago I went to KSL.com to look at something in the classifieds. I decided to quickly scroll down and check the news first. At the very bottom of the page was a little headline that said something like-"Jordan School District to offer new language immersion programs next year". I thought, "they're probably all Spanish", but I clicked the link anyway. I started reading and sure enough the first five mentioned were Spanish (which is completely normal!), but then at the very end it said there was going to be one French and one Chinese program. I couldn't believe it! I didn't quite have my hopes up yet because we don't live in that district but I thought it was worth looking into. I researched which school would have the French program to see how far away it is. Amazingly, it is at one of the Southern-most elementary schools in Draper, 8 miles from our house! I called Roland who immediately called the district. He was transferred a few times until he reached the principal. She was thrilled to hear from him and promised him she would do everything she could to make sure Eric got in. She took his info and said she'd call. Later that night I tried to show Roland the article on KSL and it was no longer on their front page. If I hadn't scrolled down to look at the news I never would have found it!

Fast forward a month and a half and we still hadn't heard from the principal. After attending the Draper Temple Open House, I said to Roland, "let's drive around and see if we can find that school". He reminded me that we did not have the address with us and there are about 500 elementary schools in Draper. But he said we could look for a few minutes. After a couple turns we were right in front of it! The sign out front read "French Immersion parent meeting next Wednesday". Roland went inside and found the principal who had lost his info and had no way to call him. She was again thrilled to hear from him and invited us to the meeting.

At the meeting we learned that there has been very high interest from within school boundaries so they would not be able to accept students from outside the district other than the 4 spaces reserved for children with native parents! WOOOOHOOO!

He is now registered for 1st grade at Oak Hollow Elementary. He will have 50% in one classroom with a strict French-only policy (the teacher is from Canada) and 50% of his day in an English classroom. All of his math and some science, PE, and music will be in French along with French literacy and the rest will be English. His French skills will be like native speakers within a couple of years (they are starting the program with 1st grade and will be hiring new teachers every year until they reach 6th grade, at which point there are plans in place to carry them through junior and senior high). Emilie, Lydie and Charlie are automatically accepted now that Eric is in the program!

Roland and I have been truly humbled to see how the Lord has blessed our children with this opportunity. We know it was by the Hand of the Lord that we were able to find this program and we are so excited for Eric and his siblings to have this great chance!

p.s. yes, Eric is very excited to be able to learn French. And, yes, he is also a little sad that he won't be able to go to school with his neighborhood friends.

all tuckered out

She needed no prompting to make this face...came up with it all on her own!

After a day filled with all kinds of fun (playing with mommy's makeup, heping herself to everything in the fridge, coloring on any surface that is blank, stealing the wipes and using them to clean up all those surfaces she colored on...), Lydie could not keep her eyes open for scripture time. She is such an on-the-go gal that I was really surprised to see her fall asleep like that! Maybe I'll go join her!